Daisy de Melker is hung for poisoning her two husbands and her son.

Date: 30 Dec 1932
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Daisy De Melker was a nurse believed to marry men, only to kill them for financial gain. She married three times and killed two of her husbands and her son. All the men she married were plumbers and, the two that she allegedly poisoned, left her with large sums of money. She used the substance Strychnine to poison both her husbands and arsenic, to kill her son. De Melker was only convicted of the murder of her son and not of her two husbands because of lack of evidence. The motive for the murder of her son was never clear. It was suspected that he may have been pestering her with his father’s inheritance since he was approaching the age of 21. De Melker was hanged on 30 December 1932.

Search events by date

What happened on your birthday?

How we know this

01Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau
02Africa Crime-Mystery, (2003), SOUTH AFRICA'S MOST FAMOUS POISONER, from Africa Crime-Mystery, [online], Available at www.africacrime-mystery.co.za [Accessed: 20 November 2012]
03Randall, M., (2010), Daisy De Melker - SA's Poisonous Femme Fatale, from About South Africa, 12 September [online], Available at about-south-africa.com [Accessed: 20 November 2012]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, December 14). Daisy de Melker is hung for poisoning her two husbands and her son.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071428

South African History Online (2011) 'Daisy de Melker is hung for poisoning her two husbands and her son.', South African History Online, 14 December. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071428 (Accessed: 22 July 2026).

South African History Online, Daisy de Melker is hung for poisoning her two husbands and her son. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071428, (accessed 22 July 2026).

"Daisy de Melker is hung for poisoning her two husbands and her son.." South African History Online, 14 Dec. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071428. Accessed 22 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Daisy de Melker is hung for poisoning her two husbands and her son.." South African History Online. December 14, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071428.